Squish squash

Rami Ashour flattened his Pakistani opponent to become Egypt's world junior squash champion. Inas Mazhar reports on a youngster with a wicked whack

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Ashour receives the cup (photo: AFP)

Despite having a record-equalling six players in the quarter-finals, hosts Pakistan failed to take the ultimate prize in the PIA men's world junior squash championship when Rami Ashour beat home hero Yasir Butt in the final in Islamabad to claim the title for Egypt.

Ashour won 9-5, 10-8, 9-3, in just 46 minutes.

A packed crowd, which included the prime minister of Pakistan, Choudhary Shujaat Hussain, applauded the players onto the all-glass court at the new Mushaf Squash Complex for the final of the 13th staging of the event since the inaugural championship in 1980 -- featuring two players who were expected to reach only the quarter-finals.

Right from the start, it was clear that the 16- year-old Ashour, from Cairo, was in the same form which had seen him dismiss the "Find of the Tournament" trophy winner, 14-year-old Amir Atlas Khan, in the semi-finals. Butt, in contrast, looked ill at ease and unable to get the long, hard rallies he wanted.

The opening rally was completed with an exquisite cross-court backhand drop from the Egyptian.

It was no surprise that the first game went to Ashour 9-5 in some 13 minutes.

The second saw his Pakistani opponent come out red hot, and errors from Ashour saw Butt race to a 5-0 lead. But again, Ashour showed a remarkable ability to re- focus and within minutes he led 6-5. At this point, the crowd's excitement was such that there were some correct lets for shouting disturbance.

Butt stuck in and levelled -- and at eight-all played what many thought was a winner in a rally he was controlling. But a shout from the stands resulted in another disturbance let which Butt did not recover from, losing on a stroke for not clearing, 8-10.

In the third, Butt tried to up the pace but was looking demoralised and his error count increased sharply. As a result Ashour did not need to go for any spectacular shots but simply kept up the pressure. A mixture of forced and unforced errors saw him triumph 9-3.

So the teenager from Egypt, who endured two major knee operations, became world junior champion "and a most worthy one at that," said event spokesman George Mieras. A section of the crowd were Egyptian expatriates and they raised the roof as Ashour had the gold medal put round his neck by the prime minister. He then received the World Squash Federation (WSF) trophy from President Jahangir Khan, the former 10-time British Open champion.

In addition, Ashour received a special trophy from the president of the Pakistan Squash Federation Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat.

"I can't believe it," Ashour exclaimed when asked how he felt after becoming the fourth Egyptian to win the title. "Thanks to everyone for everything."

Ashour brings Egypt's haul of world squash titles to three after Amr Shabana clinched the men's world Open crown in December, also in Pakistan. The women collected the world junior team title in Cairo a year ago.

But Pakistan gleaned a measure of revenge, beating Egypt in the men's junior team event. The top seeds successfully defending their title in front of a joyous home crowd when they beat second seeded Egypt 2-1.

The opening match saw home favourite Khalid Atlas Khan taking on Ashour, who had just been crowned world individual champion. Khan, who has not played well over the past two weeks, put on a much better performance this time -- but again the Egyptian wizard showed his ability to come back, from 1-6 in the first game to 9-6, then 2-6 in the second, to 9-6.

Khan was particularly successful in dealing with Ashour's lobs in the third though Ashour ultimately triumphed 9-6, 9-6, 2-9, 9-7.

Pakistan drew level in the second match when Butt beat Omar Abu Zid. Perhaps as a result of having been unwell, Abu Zid clearly ran out of steam as the game progressed and though he earned full marks for fighting, the result was never really in doubt as Butt prevailed 9-4, 3-9, 9-4, 9-1.

The decider featured Farhan Mehboob against Egypt's Mahmoud Adel. Left-hander Mehboob was inspired, and shot through the first game 9-2 making his opponent look cumbersome. The second game saw some great play from the Pakistani as he opened a 5-0 lead which he soon converted to 9-4. By this time the crowd was going wild -- and the hero did not let them down, sealing it quickly 9-0 against a despondent Egyptian.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf then arrived to give away the prizes in an impressive ceremony. He also increased the Pakistan Squash Federation's two million rupees bonus to the team to five million -- and offered any Pakistani world champion a personal one million. He spoke strongly in support of sport, and in particular squash, which he plays himself.

England won the bronze medal after beating Kuwait 2-1 in the play-off for third place. Reece Williams of New Zealand won the fair play award for the tournament.